We conducted this investigation in response to criticisms
that the current Alaska Interagency Fire Management Plans are
allowing too much of the landscape in interior Alaska to burn
annually. To address this issue, we analyzed fire history patterns
within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, interior Alaska.
We dated 40 fires on 27 landscape points within the refuge boundaries
using standard dendrochorological methods. Fire return intervals
based on tree ring data ranged from 37 to 166 years (mean = 90
+/- 32 years; N = 38) over the 250 year time frame covered by
this study. We found no significant differences in the frequency
of fire occurence over time. There was no evidence to suggest
that changes in fire management policy have significantly altered
the fire regime in the Yukon Flats area. However, the lack of
significant differences over time may be due in part to the relatively
short time period that fires were actively suppressed in Alaska.
The full suppression era (1939-1984) may have been too short
to significantly alter the fire regime in all areas of interior
Alaska.